Amazon secures top spot for customer satisfaction for sixth year in a row
Published: 5 July 2018 - Fiona Garcia
The online giant has retained the top spot in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI), with John Lewis coming in at number two and as many as eight non-food retailers making up the top 20, including Argos, Wilko, M&S and Pets at Home.
Published by The Institute of Customer Service, the UKSI revealed that Amazon landed a customer satisfaction score of 86.7 points (out of 100), making this the sixth consecutive time consumers have rated Amazon number one.
Eight non-food retailers make up this year’s top 20, and the retail sector performed better than any other, boasting an average score of 82.2, against a backdrop of challenges for high street brands. John Lewis, Next and Wilko all came in the top 10, as customers showed their appreciation for the retail chains. Meanwhile, Pets at Home and Argos scored in the top 20.
Meanwhile, retailers B&Q, Ikea and Poundland were included in the Index but failed to rank in the top 50.
The top organisations in the latest UKCSI are rated favourably for measures of customer effort, trust, ease of contact, employee helpfulness and competence, speed of response, getting things right first time and complaint handling.
The Institute warns “survival of the fittest will be driven by how well customers are served”. After a steady increase in the first five years of the last decade, the latest UKCSI shows levels of UK customer satisfaction across all brands peaked in 2012/13 and have largely plateaued since.
The UKCSI is the national measure of UK customer satisfaction. It rates customer satisfaction at a national, sector and organisational level across 13 sectors – incorporating the views of 10,000 consumers. More than 30 different customer measures are surveyed – such as staff professionalism, the quality and efficiency of the service, trust and transparency scores, the actual customer experience and complaint handling – are factored into the results. It is published twice a year, in January and July.
The Institute for Customer Service CEO Jo Causon said: “The stagnation in customer service levels should be of concern for the UK economy. This comes at a time when, just nine months from Brexit, we need more than ever before to show that Britain is a great place to do business with and in.
“Alongside tangible financial measures, trust, reputation and recommendation are crucial benefits of a deliberate and consistent focus on achieving high levels of customer satisfaction. The UKCSI shows that customers who give the highest ratings for customer satisfaction – express strong levels of loyalty, which brands will need in difficult and unpredictable market conditions.”
The top 50 rated organisations in July 2018’s UKCSI are:
1. Amazon.co.uk
2. John Lewis Retail
3. = Next Retail, Yorkshire Bank
5. = first direct, Nationwide Building Society
7. Tesco Mobile
8. = M&S Bank, Wilko Retail
10. Iceland
11. Netflix
12. Specsavers
13. Pets at Home
14. = Greggs, Superdrug
16. = Argos, Trivago, Waitrose Retail
19. Nationwide Insurance
20. = Green Flag Services, Jet2holidays.com
22. Aviva
23. = Aldi, M&S (food)
25. = Jet2. LV=
27. Halfords autocentre
28. = eBay, Premier Inn
30. SAGA Insurance
31. Santander
32. M&S
33. = Holland & Barrett, Honda, Kia
36. Caffe Nero
37. = Brittany Ferries, Jaguar
39. = Apple, booking.com, Co-op Insurance, Mini, TSB
44. = giffgaff, More Than, Primark
47. Halifax
48. = Lidl, Subway, Toby Carvery